The production of liquid crystal displays, for example, active matrix liquid crystal display devices (AMLCDs) is very complex, and the properties of the substrate glass are extremely important. First and foremost, the glass substrates used in the production of AMLCD devices need to have their physical dimensions tightly controlled. The downdraw sheet drawing processes and, in particular, the fusion process described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,338,696 and 3,682,609, both to Dockerty, are capable of producing glass sheets that can be used as substrates without requiring costly post-forming finishing operations such as lapping and polishing. Unfortunately, the fusion process places rather severe restrictions on the glass properties, which require relatively high liquidus viscosities.
In the liquid crystal display field, there are various methods of producing the thin film transistors (TFTs) necessary for AMLCDs. Historically, panel makers have produced either large, low resolution displays utilizing amorphous-silicon (a-Si) based transistors, or small, high resolution displays utilizing poly-crystalline (p-Si) based and oxide thin film (Ox) based transistors. Although it was once thought that a-Si TFTs would be replaced by p-Si TFTs, consumer demand for low cost, large, high resolution displays, and the cost of manufacturing such large scale displays with p-Si TFTs, is driving AMLCD manufacturers to extend their use of a-Si TFTs to higher and higher resolution. These resolution increases necessitate stricter standards in dimensional stability for the glass substrate used in the TFT manufacturing process. During a-Si, oxide or low temperature p-Si TFT fabrication, the glass substrate is held at a process temperature ranging from 350° C. to 450° C., whilst the thin film transistor is created. At these temperatures most AMLCD glass substrates undergo a process called compaction. Compaction, also referred to as thermal stability or dimensional change, is an irreversible dimensional change (shrinkage) in the glass substrate due to changes in the glass' fictive temperature. “Fictive temperature” is a concept used to indicate the structural state of a glass. Glass that is cooled quickly from a high temperature is said to have a higher fictive temperature because of the “frozen in” higher temperature structure. Glass that is cooled more slowly, or that is annealed by holding for a time near its annealing point, is said to have a lower fictive temperature.
The magnitude of compaction depends both on the process by which a glass is made and the viscoelastic properties of the glass. In the float process for producing sheet products from glass, the glass sheet is cooled relatively slowly from the melt and, thus, “freezes in” a comparatively low temperature structure into the glass. The fusion process, by contrast, results in very rapid quenching of the glass sheet from the melt, and freezes in a comparatively high temperature structure. As a result, a glass produced by the float process may undergo less compaction when compared to glass produced by the fusion process, since the driving force for compaction is the difference between the fictive temperature and the process temperature experienced by the glass during compaction. Thus, it would be desirable to minimize the level of compaction in a glass substrate that is produced by a downdraw process.
There are two approaches to minimize compaction in glass. The first is to thermally pretreat the glass to create a fictive temperature similar to the one the glass will experience during TFT manufacture. There are several difficulties with this approach. First, the multiple heating steps employed during the TFT manufacturing process create slightly different fictive temperatures in the glass that cannot be fully compensated for by this pretreatment. Second, the thermal stability of the glass becomes closely linked to the details of the TFT manufacture, which could mean different pretreatments for different end-users. Finally, pretreatment adds to processing costs and complexity.
Another approach is to slow the rate of strain at the process temperature by increasing the viscosity of the glass. This can be accomplished by raising the viscosity of the glass. The annealing point represents the temperature corresponding to a fixed viscosity for a glass, and thus an increase in annealing point equates to an increase in viscosity at fixed temperature. The challenge with this approach, however, is the production of high annealing point glass that is cost effective. The main factors impacting cost are defects and asset lifetime. In a modern continuous unit (CU) melter comprising a refractory premelt, a precious metal finer and a precious metal glass delivery stem—coupled to a fusion draw machine, four types of defects are commonly encountered: (1) gaseous inclusions (bubbles or blisters); (2) solid inclusions from refractories or from failure to properly melt the batch; (3) metallic defects consisting largely of platinum; and (4) devitrification products resulting from low liquidus viscosity or excessive devitrification at either end of the isopipe. Glass composition has a disproportionate impact on the rate of melting, and hence on the tendency of a glass to form gaseous or solid defects and the oxidation state of the glass impacts the tendency to incorporate platinum defects. Devitrification of the glass on the forming mandrel, or isopipe, is best managed by selecting compositions with high liquidus viscosities.
Dimensional stability in the glass substrate during the TFT manufacturing process is also affected by elastic strain. There are two main causes of elastic strain experienced by the substrate. During the fusion process elastic strain, and therefore stress, can be introduced into the glass sheet upon cooling via small thermal gradients. These stresses undergo stress relaxation during the TFT manufacturing process resulting in dimensional instability. Such instability can be minimized, in the same way as compaction, via a decrease in the strain rate at the TFT process temperature by increasing the annealing point of the glass substrate. The second type of elastic strain is related to the stress imposed on the substrate when the transistor itself is deposited on glass surface. Such elastic strain is minimized by increasing the Young's modulus of the glass, such that the stress imposed on the substrate surface produces a minimal amount of strain and reduces dimensional changes seen in the glass sheet.
In addition to the problems with dimensional stability mentioned above, AMLCD manufacturers are finding that both demand for larger display sizes and the economics of scale are driving them to process larger sized pieces of glass in excess of 2 meters on each side. This raises several concerns. First is simply the weight of the glass. The increase in glass weight in going to larger sized pieces of glass implications for the robotic handlers used to move the glass into and through process stations. In addition, elastic sag, which is dependent upon glass density and Young's modulus, becomes a particularly critical issue with larger sheet sizes, impacting the ability to load, retrieve, and space the glass in the cassettes used to transport the glass between process stations. Accordingly, it is desirable to identify compositions that reduce issues associated with sag in addition to minimizing compaction, stress relaxation and elastic strain, while maintaining the defect-limiting attributes described above.